Prisma Health pays record $1M settlement over drug charges with federal government
Prisma Health will pay a record $1 million settlement to the U.S. government because of allegations about how the health care company handled prescription drugs that ended up being used illegally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Carolina announced Tuesday.
Over a three-year period, the Midlands hospital giant allowed “controlled substance prescriptions to be diverted for illegitimate and dangerous purposes” by two patients who later pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges brought by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the department’s media release.
It is a record settlement for a case of its kind in South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Federal investigators say at least some of the drugs distributed by the two individuals were received through Prisma Health’s pharmacy. The U.S. attorney alleges the hospital giant committed record-keeping and dispensing violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which are intended to regulate how prescription drugs are distributed.
“Pharmacists must comply with their responsibilities to issue controlled substances only for legitimate medical purposes and in the usual course of their professional practice,” said U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis. “When pharmacists ignore or disregard red flags, their actions allow controlled substance prescriptions to be diverted for illegitimate and dangerous purposes.”
In addition to record-keeping failures, the DEA alleges that Prisma Health filled “prescriptions that were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose.”
The settlement payment is not an admission of any wrongdoing on the part of Prisma Health. In a statement, Prisma Health spokeswoman Tammie Epps said, “We fully cooperated throughout this process and appreciated the opportunity to work with the DOJ and DEA to resolve it.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 1:02 PM.
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